Briquet-press.



F. W. BARTLETT.

BRIQUET PRESS.

11221110111011 FILED MAY 16, 1911.

1,057,029. Patented Mar.25,1913.

WITNESSES ATTORNEYS UNITED W OFFICE i FRANK W. BARTLETT, OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR. TO UNION MACHINE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

BRIQUET-PRESS.

Specification of Letters Patent,

Application filed May 16, 1911. Serial No. 627,507. v

To a. ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK W. BARTLETT,

vcertain new and useful Improvements in a Bri net-Press, of which the -following is a speclfication.

The invention relates to improvements in a press or molding machine for forming and pressing bodies.

The object of the invention is to provlde' a press in which the time required for forming the briquet and removing it from the die is greatly lessened.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide means for closing thelower end of the die which may be quickly removed from, or placed in, position below the die to allow the pressing to to be removed.

The machine is particularl adapted for making briquets from pulverlzed or granular salt, although it may be used for pressing and molding other substances but in the description I will confine myself to the use of the press for making salt blocks.

In the manufacture of salt blocks there are substantially three steps in the process; first, the charging of the die with the material to be ressed; second, the actual pressing operation and third, the removal ofthe pressed block from the die. A certain'specified time is required for the actual pressing operation and it is not the object ofthis invention to reduce this time in any marked degree.

The time saved by the use of the present machine occurs in the first'and third operations; that is, in arranging the die in condition for receiving the charge and in charging, and in removing the finished briquet from the die. These two steps in the operation have heretofore reqltlired the larger percentage of time and y greatly reducing the time of these operations, many more pressings per hour are obtainable.

This device possesses other advantageous features, which, with the foregoing will be set forth at length in the following description, where I shall outline in full that form of embodiment of the invention which I have selected for illustration in the drawing accompanying and forming part of the present specification. I

briquets, blocks or other similar be made or the finished briquet' Patented Mar. 25, 1913.

The novelty of the invention willbe ini cluded in the'claims. succeeding said description. "From'this itfwill be apparent that I do not'limit myself'to. theshowing 'made by i 'such drawing and; description as I may adopt many variations within the scope of my invention as expressed'in said claims. 1 The drawlng 1s a vertical section of the.

sitlon.

The press consists of 2 having a piston 3 thereon, to which is attached the plunger 4. Below the plunger 4,

ress, showing the plunger in the raisedpo a pressure cylinder in a suitable frame 5 is the die Gin which the.

plunger 4 operates to compress-the material.

Located above the die 6 is a' suitable feedhopper 7 from which the material is fed into the die. The'plunger 4 acts as a gate for the hopper and allows the material to enter the the only when the plunger is raised. 7 In the present lnstance a rectangular plunger is used and the sides of the lower end of the hopper are formed to engage the plunger 'to prevent it from turning and thereby hold it in proper alinem'ent with the die. A stop piece 8'on theplunger prevents the lower end of the plunger from emerging from the .lower end of the die. i Arranged below the die 6 is a short cylin- I der 9 provided with a piston 12. The cylinder 9 is spaced apart a suflicient distance from the lower end of the die to allow the briquet to be ejected from the die and to be removed laterallyfrom between thedie and the piston 12.

Arrangedon the piston 12, and slidable laterally thereon, on the tracks or guides 13 is a locking block 14, which is of'sufficient transverse area to cover the opening in the lower end of the die. The height of the locking block 14 is slightl less than the distance between the lower ace of the die and the surface of piston 12, when said'piston is in the depressed position. The locking block 1s preferably made of a hight substantially the same as the height of the compressed material, so that there will be sufficient room for extracting the briquet when the looking block is moved laterally to open the die, but it is evident that the locking block can be made of greater height without sacrificing any ofthe advantages of the invention.

The locking block 14 is moved into and out of position below the die by means of the piston 15 operating in the cylinder 16.

The piston rod 17 connecting the piston 15 with the locking block 14, is slidably mounted inthe locking block to allow said block to have a slight vertical movement under the action of piston 12.

Attached to the forward side of the looking block 14 is the apron or chute 18, which lies under the die when the locking block is drawn backward and which receives the briquets as they are ejected from the die.

The die is preferably made slightly tapered toward the lower end, so that the briquet is moved downward to eject it from the die, it is freed from the die and readily drops away from the die. This taper extends substantially for the full length of the compressed briquet, so that a slight movement of the plunger after the locking block has been withdrawn will loosen the briquet. The taper is not shown on the drawings, on account of the slightness thereof and the small scale of the figure.

Suitable connections are made with the various cylinders for admitting fluid under pressure thereto, and suitable valves may be employed for controlling the flow of the fluid.

Heretofore, as far as I am aware, the closing of the lower end of the die was accomplished by a piston located similar to piston 12, but having a longer stroke. Since sufiicient distance must be left between the bottom of the die and the surface of the piston in its depressed position to allow the briquet to be removed there between, it is evident that the piston would have, to move through the great distance at each stroke. The pistons are generally operated by hydraulic pressure and the movements of the piston are slow, so that considerable time was consumed in raising the piston and allowing it to lower after the pressing operation.

With the press of my invention the piston 12 is moved only a suflicient distance to release the locking block or to raise the looking block into engagement with the die. When the locking block is in the raised position the valve controlling the water inlet to cylinder 9 is left open, so that the locking block is firmly held against the die and is not displaced when pressure is ap lied to the material within the die. Atter the pressing operation the valve is closed and the piston allowed to recede. The locking block is then withdrawn and the briquet is ejected from the die.

I claim:

1. In a press of the character described, a die, a hydraulically operated vertically movable member below said die, and a laterally movable locking block of substantially the same height as the compressed material arranged on said member and adapted to be moved to open and close the lower end of the die.

2. In a press of the character described, a

.die open at both ends, a hydraulically operated plunger coacting therewith, a vertically movable member below said die and spaced apart therefrom, a laterally movable looking block arranged on said member adapted in one osition to close the end of the die, said 100 ring block being of substantially the same height as the compressed material, and hydraulically operated means for moving the vertically movable member to move said locking block into contact with said die.

FRANK W. BARTLETT. Witnesses:

H. G. PROST, N. B. HEINE. 

